A riddle in the form of a poem and an answer in the form of flash fiction.
Visual Poetry
A Generational Blessing
Oftentimes I tend to focus on generational curses, the bad traits I’ve received from my family. My piece reflects on this and the generational blessings passed down.
the body: an examination
This poem comes from a page of “The Power to be Affected,” a philosophy essay by Michael Hardt. It is a work that first resonated with me at age 14.
Lover
This poem depicts a dysfunctional relationship in which the protagonist feels constricted by the person they love, but nevertheless wants to be with them. The color schemes and backgrounds used heighten the emotional complexity as well as the aesthetic of the piece. This poem was inspired by many books I have read in which the characters have an unusual romantic relationship, and I wanted to show the intricacy of the emotions the characters feel.
Erasures of ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ & ‘Lift Every Voice’
These pieces are erasures of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the national black anthem. My mentor gave me prompts to erase both of them, side by side, after noticing the differences between them.
Armed Allegiance
My erasure poem “Armed Allegiance” represents the immigrant experience. I moved from Mexico to America when I was young, and I know how hard it is to adapt to a new place. The Naturalization Oath is important to me because it reflects the sacrifices my parents made to give me more opportunities in life. I know many undocumented immigrants dream of becoming U.S. citizens and see it as the ultimate achievement. I also wanted this poem to convey how important it is for me to make my parents proud and show them that their hard work was worth it.
Anatomy 125
This erasure poem is a visual representation of my own writing process. You can see the crossing out of words as well as the words I had to write back in. Sharing any kind of writing is an innately intimate experience, but this specifically feels personal for the way that it displays my mistakes as well as the final project.
Simple Separate Person
My project is a blackout poetry piece using Walt Whitman’s poem “One’s Self I Sing.” I am a poetry aficionado, so this piece is the perfect marriage between my existing love of writing and my newfound interest in the digital sphere.
Mr. Rochester Is Punished
This is an alternate ending to Jane Eyre, in which Bertha, the Caribbean outsider and “madwoman” who was forced to marry Mr. Rochester, is humanized, and Jane’s strength is found in resisting Mr. Rochester, not returning to him.
Looking for Mercy, Stuck in a Nightmare
These poems explore the injustices of the criminal justice system in America. Too many people have been targeted. Too many people have been wronged.
Rise Up
Poetry is an art that explains feelings in a different way. It’s a type of dialect. When you can’t really say something straight out but you have to get it out, or when you just feeling some type of way and just want to speak out—you can rant, encourage, argue, let out frustrations, and more.
Erasure Poetry of ‘The Danger of a Single Story’
This digital media piece is about what it means to be a woman in today’s society. This piece is also about my take on erasure poetry with a mix of feminism. I emphasize the words by highlighting them instead of spotlighting the words by redacting others.
The Reality of Death
For most of my life, I’ve seen Death as the enemy. He stole the people that I love away from me. Most importantly, my father. I never knew what Death’s true intentions were until I dared to dive deeper. I realized that he wasn’t just out to get me and ruin my life. Death was never in charge of calling the shots on who’s next, he was just doing what he was asked to do. In the end, Death was always just a messenger who got a bad rep.